Publishing deal signed

Lawyers on pedalos

23 Apr 1999

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Will Champion

In a glorious display of ‘well why not?’ Coldplay’s publishing contracts were signed not in the offices of a lawyer, but floating on a lake in the middle of London’s Hyde Park. Quite whose idea this was seems to have been lost in the mists of time – as was the exact reasoning behind it.

Publishing is the realm of Caroline Ellary, one of Debs Wild’s strongest co-conspirators and also hugely instrumental in pushing the band to an industry who may otherwise have walked on by.

Caroline is now the head of A&R for Universal Music Publishing. It’s unclear whether this role still requires aquatic skills.

Oh, and you can still rent pedalos at Hyde Park, if you fancy recreating this momentous occasion.